The PLOS “Speaking of Medicine” blog highlights a number of articles published in PLOS Medicine this week. “Using thematic analysis, Thomas Kerr and colleagues document the experiences of policing among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Bangkok and examine how interactions with police may affect drug-using behaviors and access to…

“Efforts are intensifying to improve access to much needed humanitarian assistance to remote Philippine islands, one month after the category five Super Typhoon Haiyan” struck, IRIN reports in an analysis. “Some remote areas that are difficult to reach in ordinary circumstances have become even more inaccessible since Haiyan swept through…

“French troops on Monday began disarming fighters in the Central African Republic after a swell in sectarian violence that has claimed hundreds of lives and terrified inhabitants,” Agence France-Presse reports (Cariou, 12/9). “A 1,600-strong French force has been sent into the CAR, deployed after days of communal fighting claimed 400…

“On December 10, 2013, the world will mark the 20th year of Human Rights Day. Yet the rights of the world’s children caught in armed conflicts continue to be violated with impunity,” Siddharth Chatterjee, chief diplomat at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, writes in…

“Food aid is a global business that millions depend on, from the typhoon-stricken Philippines to war-torn Syria. Yet when it comes to the sourcing of this aid, there’s a growing debate on how much food should be bought locally,” versus shipped from the donor country, the Christian Science Monitor reports,…

“The massive destruction of health care facilities, with disruption to access and delivery as well as protracted displacement caused by Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) will further undermine precarious maternal health provision in the Philippines, warn experts,” IRIN reports. “According to the recently released Multi-Cluster/Sector Rapid Assessment (MIRA), produced by…

“Something every American needs to know: When it comes to emergency response, and longer term efforts on behalf of child survival and disease reduction, U.S. foreign aid plays an indispensable role,” Marty Martin, global executive officer at Food for the Hungry, writes in the Huffington Post’s “Impact” blog. “U.S. funding,…

“An escalation of violence in the Central African Republic [CAR] is causing thousands to flee their homes into the wilderness, posing a humanitarian challenge in a country that has suffered from destabilization for years,” PBS NewsHour reports. “An estimated one in three people in the country of about five million…

“Nearly one month after Typhoon Haiyan swept through the Philippines, displacing more than four million people, health experts are trying to lower the rising risk of malnutrition among 1.5 million children under five, and help hundreds of thousands of women continue breastfeeding,” IRIN reports. “‘What is easily seen in the…

The polio outbreak in Syria “has grown to 17 confirmed cases, the WHO said last week” and declared a polio emergency in the country, NPR’s “Shots” blog and “All Things Considered” reports. “The Syrian government has pledged to immunize all Syrian children under age five. But wartime politics is getting…